Introduction and My Rules So Far

Hello people of the blogosphere. I dug up my old copy of Pokemon Red and my old Gameboy Pocket earlier today, and a quick poll on Facebook said I should try a Charmander only playthrough. Thus, this blog to record my progress.

To get things started, I'll introduce you to what I've done so far:

Around 7:30pm tonight, I turned on the Gameboy and started a new game, deleting the old data (which was around 125 pokemon caught and everything had rare candies used on it like crazy). When prompted, I named myself Blake and went on to name my rival Taco. Afterward, I went on to collect the potion from my PC, went and got a Charmander, kicked Taco's Squirtle's butt, healed at my house, and went on to the Viridian City Pokemon Center, encountering no wild Pokemon and obtaining the free potion sample on the way.

At this point, I began asking Facebook what else I should do. Disregarding a few absurd and/or expected suggestions, I was told to use only Charmander until I beat the first two gyms. Challenge accepted. Further discussion said I should do a Charmander only playthrough, which is bull. What's the point of picking Charmander if you're not gonna get Charizard eventually? However, using only Charmander and his evolutions is an acceptable compromise. I was also told to not use any potions. This also seemed worthy of attempting. So, now we at last have a basis on which to make my rules.

Now, as for some actual definition, these are the rules I have decided upon so far:

1. I may only use Charmander and his evolutions for battling, except in cases allowed by other rules.

2. I may not use potions.

3. For the purposes of actually being able to get anywhere, other Pokemon may be caught in order to use outside of battle moves, such as Dig and HMs.

4. In the case of life being a pain in the ass and Charmander (or Charmeleon or Charizard) fainting and the last save being further back in time than preferable, other Pokemon may be used until they all faint. Should one of the other Pokemon win the battle by some miracle, the power will be turned off and I shall suck it up and continue from the last save, however far back it may be.

5. I may use any Gameboy available to me which will still play the game. Much as I love my old green Pocket, it isn't as trustworthy as it used to be and the batteries are held in by duct tape, which does not seem safe.

6. I may not multiply Rare Candies or stat-boosting items such as Protein. Use of such items is forbidden unless necessary to pick up an item somewhere on the field, and even in that case they are to be used on other Pokemon when possible.

7. I MAY use status-curing items such as Antidote, if only because it's annoying to have to run to a Pokemon Center every time I get poisoned, paralyzed, frozen, or put to sleep. However, Full Restore is not allowed, as it also restores HP.

8. I MAY multiply items not listed in rule 6, including the Master Ball.

9. I may not challenge the Elite Four with any other Pokemon in my party.

10. I may catch legendary Pokemon, but not Missingno.

11. I may not trade Pokemon. No matter how awesome Farfetch'd is, I can live without him and am far more likely to catch a Pidgey than a Spearow. This is doubly true for Gengar, Golem, and Alakazam. Jynx is a whore and I don't want one anyway.

12. Other rules may be added in other posts at any time. I shall attempt to keep them in the spirit of the original concept.

So, there are the rules. This is gonna be fun. Questions, comments, suggestions for new rules, and other such things are welcome.